Renewable energy groups say they want the federal government to tell power companies that more power has to come from renewable energy.
(Photo courtesy of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory)
Renewable energy groups are
calling on the federal government
to do more to support their
industries. They want the
government to set standards
for where the country gets
its power. Mark Brush reports:
Transcript
Renewable energy groups are
calling on the federal government
to do more to support their
industries. They want the
government to set standards
for where the country gets
its power. Mark Brush reports:
The groups say they want the federal government to tell power companies that more power has to come from renewable energy. Most power companies in the country are basically regulated monopolies.
Denise Bode is the president of the American Wind Energy Association. She used to work as a public utility regulator. Bode says it’s up to the government to ask one question when they regulate these monopolies.
“What’s in the public interest? And, you know, often times as a state public utility commissioner I would make the determination as to what kind of power generation that we would authorize our utilities to do and what was in the public interest.”
Bode says it is in the public interest to get more power from cleaner, renewable sources.
Some big utilities oppose having one federal standard – and there are a lot reasons why they oppose it – but one of them is that states are already handling it. There are 30 states that have some kind of renewable targets in place.
The project would send power - like wind or solar - across three electricity networks.
(Photo courtesy of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory)
Wind and solar power farms are sprouting
up, but they have reliability problems.
Wind doesn’t always blow, and sun doesn’t
always shine. To keep the lights on,
utilities want to grab power from any
solar and wind farm that is working.
Shawn Allee reports one transmission
project could help out:
Transcript
Wind and solar power farms are sprouting
up, but they have reliability problems.
Wind doesn’t always blow, and sun doesn’t
always shine. To keep the lights on,
utilities want to grab power from any
solar and wind farm that is working.
Shawn Allee reports one transmission
project could help out:
It’s not easy to send California’s solar power eastward. Same goes for sending Texan wind power westward.
A proposed transmission project called Tres Amigas hopes to change that.
It would let utilities send power across three electricity networks.
Michael Giberson researches utility economics at Texas Tech University. He says the Tres Amigas project could go in just the right spot.
“The area where it’s locating in Eastern New Mexico close to the Texas borderr, is an area where there’s great renewable energy potential and this is gonna make it much easier for the grid to accomodate that.”
The Tres Amigas power project would need federal approval. It would also require Texas to link its grid with its neighbors’.
That’s something the Lone Star state might not do.
A smart grid diagram from the US Department of Energy
(Photo courtesy of the US Department of Energy)
Your power bill likely will change
in the next few years. Lester Graham
reports there’s a good chance you’ll
be thinking about how much electricity
you use and when you’ll use it:
Transcript
Your power bill likely will change
in the next few years. Lester Graham
reports there’s a good chance you’ll
be thinking about how much electricity
you use and when you’ll use it:
The Smart Grid will mean changes. Electric companies we’ll be able to monitor power use better and deliver electricity more efficiently. That should help avoid brown outs and black outs.
But it’ll also be tell you in real time how much power you’re using.
Brian Seal is with the non-profit Electric Power Research Institute. He says, eventually, you’ll be charged different rates at different times of the day.
“Consumers would be aware of that so that they can program their appliances and other equipment to consume energy when the price is low rather than when it’s high.”
But you’ll need Smart Appliances to work with a Smart Grid. GE is the first to announce a product line – right as the government released $3.4 billion in grants to power companies for the Smart Grid.
In the fall of 2007, the state of Kansas made
the unprecedented decision to deny a power company permits
for a coal plant because of greenhouse
gas emissions.
(Photo courtesy of the Energy Information Administration)
Reducing the greenhouse gases that
cause global warming will mean less
reliance on fossil fuels, such as coal.
Almost two years ago, Kansas became
the first state ever to deny permits
for a coal plant because of greenhouse
gas emissions. Since then, there have
been lawsuits on all sides. Even the
compromise the Governor in Kansas reached
with the coal company in May is now
stalled. Devin Browne reports that
coal just will not go quietly:
Transcript
Reducing the greenhouse gases that
cause global warming will mean less
reliance on fossil fuels, such as coal.
Almost two years ago, Kansas became
the first state ever to deny permits
for a coal plant because of greenhouse
gas emissions. Since then, there have
been lawsuits on all sides. Even the
compromise the Governor in Kansas reached
with the coal company in May is now
stalled. Devin Browne reports that
coal just will not go quietly:
The Sunflower Electric Power Corporation had actually applied and been
approved for a permit to build a new coal plant in 2002. But, for whatever
reason, they let the permit expire. Seemed like no big deal at the time
– they figured they’d get another one whenever they turned in another
application.
Except that they didn’t. In the fall of 2007, the state of Kansas made
the unprecedented decision to deny the power company. Cindy Hertel is with
Sunflower.
“It would be like going for your drivers license, taking the drivers
test, passing it, then being denied your drivers license because you
don’t drive a Prius. Can’t change the rules in the middle of the game.
And that’s what happened.”
Rod Bremby is the Secretary of Health and Environment in Kansas. He says
the state didn’t really change the rules on regulating CO2 because there
aren’t any rules on CO2. And since there’s no federal regulations,
Secretary Bremby instituted a state regulation. He said it would be
irresponsible not to regulate the gases causing climate change.
Stephanie Cole with the Sierra Club called it a watershed moment.
“We were excited, we were stunned – however, it wasn’t long after
that, legislators from Western Kansas started making comments that they
disapproved of Secretary Bremby’s decision and that they were going to
make legislative attempts to overturn the permit denial. So victory was
short-lived.”
Since then, the power company, Sunflower, has hired lobbyists. They’ve
helped legislators draft new bills to allow the coal-burning power plant.
The power company sued both the previous and current governor for civil
rights violations. For two years – nothing.
Then Kansas got a new governor – Mark Parkinson. Almost immediately
after he became governor last May, he cut a deal with Sunflower. Stop the
lawsuits. Build only one unit, not two or three. And, most importantly to
the Governor’s agenda, put in transmission lines to Colorado so that
Kansas can start exporting wind energy out of state.
Kansas is the third windiest state in the country. But it needs
infrastructure to get that wind-power to other states. And, in the
governor’s deal, power companies like Sunflower help build that
infrastructure.
Cole, with the Sierra Club, said the deal was very much a let-down.
“Because it is very troubling to many of us who have been involved in
this so long. It is such a disappointment.”
For a moment the battle seemed to be over. But, it wasn’t.
In July, Sunflower received a letter from the EPA asking them to submit a
new application for a permit. John Knodel is an environmental engineer
with the EPA.
“It’s not appropriate, in our mind, that they take an application that
was for three 700 MW units and simply say, ‘that was bigger, this project
is smaller.’ We say, ‘you have to go through a process and make it
very clear what this new project is all about.’”
Now that the EPA is stepping in, Sunflower & the Sierra Club are back to
square one.
The power company is expected to turn in its new application this fall.
The Sierra Club is expected to fight it. And Sunflower is expected to
fight back.
Cindy Hertel with Sunflower says the power company is just trying to keep
electricity bills low.
Hertel: “This is still in the best interest of our members.”
Browne: “This still makes sense economically?”
Hertel: “It still makes sense. What people need to know is that we are
cost biased, not fuel biased.”
Browne: “And, right now, for Sunflower, that means coal.”
But it might not be coal for very long.
The U.S. House passed a bill last winter that includes a hefty carbon tax
and incentives for renewable energy. A similar bill was recently
introduced in the Senate.
If it passes, Kansas might find its wind energy not only beats coal in
price, but wind-power could become the next big export for the state.
Ice storms in the Midwest revealed weaknesses in a dated electric power grid. (Photo courtesy of US Department of Health and Human Services)
Hundreds of thousands of people in the lower Midwest are still without electricity and heat because of an ice storm. Lester Graham reports the storm shows that the electric power grid is fragile:
Transcript
Hundreds of thousands of people in the lower Midwest are still without electricity and heat because of an ice storm. Lester Graham reports the storm shows that the electric power grid is fragile:
People who tried to stay at home are running out of supplies and now heading for shelters. Rachel Harper and her three children are staying in a shelter in a church basement staffed by Red Cross volunteers from around Bowling Green, Kentucky.
“We’re doing okay. They’ve been watching movies, playing games. Just trying to be together as a family.”
Others are trying to stick it out at home. Mike Jarvis was stocking up at a Wal-Mart.
“I’ve got a wood heater and we’re cooking on the grill, so we’re doing okay.”
In the hardest hit areas, power crews say it will be two more weeks before they find all the downed lines.
The stimulus package includes money for automatic meter readers that could help find downed power lines faster.
Patrick Levine is with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. He says that technology could help.
“There is probably an opportunity to more quickly identify which consumers are without power.”
The ice storm revealed just one of the weaknesses in the grid that’ll have to be upgraded if we’re going to start using electricity to power our cars.
Renewable energy groups say they want the federal government to tell power companies that more power has to come from renewable energy. (Photo courtesy of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory)
